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An acquaintance of Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev may face 20 years in prison. His crime?

Clearing his browser cache.

An American law introduced to catch corporate malfeasance makes it illegal to clear your browsing history or delete any electronic file that could be used for a federal investigation. But critics say the law is too broad, and could entrap citizens in a crime they do not know they are committing.

Khairullozhon Matanov, 24, pleaded guilty in March to charges of lying to investigators in the days following the bombing and destroying evidence, including video files on his computer and deleting browser history. He now faces a sentence of up to 20 years, under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The Act was created in 2002, following the Enron scandal, and makes deleting any document that could be used in a federal investigation illegal.

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When questioned by detectives and local police, Matanov denied having a close personal relationship with the brothers, and about having seen their pictures on the FBI’s most wanted list, the indictment read.

When he found out that the brothers were wanted by the FBI, Matanov began to cover-up his tracks, the indictment read, deleting videos and browser history that might demonstrate an affinity for the brothers’ extremist views.

“By deleting his Internet cache and other files, Matanov obstructed the FBI’s determination of his Internet activity during the night of April 18 and the day of April 19, 2013, and the extent to which he shared the suspected bombers’ philosophical justification for violence, among other topics of interest,” the indictment read.

Matanov was friends with both Tsarnaev brothers, and had dinner with them the very evening after the attacks, according to the court’s indictment records. Although he did not know their involvement at the time, he told another friend, who later testified against him, that the attacks could be justified in the name of Islam and that the victims were “in paradise.”

Persons convicted under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act can face up to 20 years in prison for destroying any piece of information that could be used in a federal investigation.

“Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct, or influence the investigation or proper administration of any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States or any case filed under title 11, or in relation to or contemplation of any such matter or case, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both,” the law reads.

The law has drawn ire from electronic privacy advocates, who claim that the government is trying to own people’s personal data and for not distinguishing between information known by the accused to be a part of an investigation and information that could be a part of an investigation.

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